Control device for movable thread guides



H. HO PF Nov. 12, 1968 CONTROL DEVICE FOR MOVABLE THREAD GUIDES 6 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 26, 196

FIG. 1

INVENTOR Hans HOPF' his ATTORNEY Nov. 12, 1968 HOPF CONTROL DEVICE FORMOVABLE THREAD GUIDES Filed Aug. 26, 1966 O F/GZa 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR Hans HOPF y his ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,410,314 CONTROLDEVICE FOR MOVABLE THREAD GUIDES Hans Hopf, Dorfanger, Germany, assignorto The Continental Elastic Corporation, New Bedford, Mass., acorporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 26, 1966, Ser. No. 575,297 Claimspriority, application Germany, Sept. 14, 1965 G 44,670 9 Claims. (Cl.139-57) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to acontrol device for movable thread guide devices such as harnesses oflooms which are moved by an associated rotating eccentric cam with theinterposition of an associated transmission element, the effectivelength of which may selectively be changed as by means of associatedstop members.

In looms having, for instance, harnesses as thread guiding devices inwhich the movement of the harnesses is effected by cams, it is necessaryto provide a separate cam for each individual harness. Every weavepattern, furthermore, requires a separate cam arrangement. Accordingly,with each change of the weave pattern, the entire cam arrangement mustbe rearranged, which is extremely time-consuming. Furthermore, in mostcases when the pattern is changed, not only must the cams bere-arranged, but they must also be replaced by cams having different camsurfaces.

It is therefore necessary, in order to have the possibility of makingdifferent patterns, to keep in stock a large number of ca-ms providedwith different cam surfaces. Furthermore, it is to be noted that even ifcams with various different cam surfaces are used, the number of designsavailable is limited to the cams in stock.

Looms are also 'knOWn in which in order to form the weave pattern, theharnesses are moved 'by dobbies. In this way the disadvantage of thelimited number of possible patterns is eliminated. In order to controlthe dobbies, cards are used which have punched holes, for example, todefine a pattern and which are scanned by feeler pins. This use ofdobbies to control the pattern is, however, relatively time-consumingand hence limits the operating speed of the loom so that its fullcapacity is not utilized.

The object of the present invention is to provide control devices formovable thread guide means of the type above described which willaflford a very high degree of speed in the movement of the thread guidemeans or harness, according to any desired pattern with relativelysimple and readily controllable mechanism.

This object is obtained, according to the invention, by controlling theeffective length of the transmission elements arranged between the camand the harness. Depending on the effective length of the transmissionelement, which is present at the time, the motion impulse caused by therotating cam will not move the corresponding thread guide or harness atall, or will move it by a maximum amount, or by one or more intermediateamounts. In the case of a loom provided with harnesses, this means thatthe harnesses can be moved under the control of the transmissionelements into a lower shed or an upper shed, or one or more intermediatesheds. In this way the transmission element itself is used to controlthe movement of the harnesses. It is to be noted that when changing thepattern, no cams need be changed or removed since the movement impulsecoming therefrom is always governed by the effective length of thetransice mission element which determines whether the impulse results ina change of harness motion or not. In this way the cams can be simplecircular harmonic cams and furthenmore, it is possible to have themovement impulses for the various transmission elements produced by acommon cam drive shaft. The direction of the transmission element can beas desired so that a raising or lowering or even a lateral displacementof the thread guide harness means can be effected.

The transmission element, according to the invention, is a pusher rodhaving a deformable portion and controlled in various manners so thatthe effective length of the rod may be adjusted in accordance with thedesired position of the thread guide means or harness.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the deformableportion is formed by pivoted arms or links which may be moved or bentlaterally outward to change the effective length of the rod.

The extent of the lateral deflection of the pivoted elements determinesthe effective length of the pusher rod.

The mechanism to restrain movement of the deformable portion of the rodcould be icnorporated into the pusher rod itself. However, it ispreferred to use an arrangement in which the deformable portion willautomatically bend due to the load acting on the pusher rod, producedbetween the driving cam and the thread guide means or harness and torestrain such bending by a movable stop. With this arrangement a controlsystem is provided which in a simple manner either holds the threadguide device in position or moves it out of such position. The stopswhich restrains deformable portion from bending can be fully mechanicalor an electric magnet can be employed to bring the stops into an activeand/ or an inactive position. The stops can be alternately moved by theelectro-magnets into one direction or the other, for instance by meansof reversing the polarity of the current applied to the magnet. However,it is also possible to move the magnets by electrical energization inone direction while the movement in the other direction is effected bygravity or a pre-tensioned spring.

The control device is also simplified if the deformable portion of thepusher rod is retained in its maximum ef-- fective length by a fixedstop slightly in front of its stretched position. In this way, there isintroduced a slight bend of the deformable portion which permits furtherbending to be effected without special auxiliary means and without lossof time. The stop can also serve as the guide for the pusher rod.

The pusher rod itself may be of various type and may consist exclusivelyof a bendable member. However, it is preferable that the deformableportion be intermediate the ends of the rod so that the rigid portionscan readily be guided in their longitudinal direction.

It has been assumed that each individual thread guide device or harnesshas associated with it, with the inter position of a pusher rod, onlyone cam. In order, however, to multiply the number of possible patterns,several, and preferably two cams are provided, staggered with respect toeach other and both associated with a single thread guide device orharness through an associated pusher rod. In this way it is possible tolift the thread guide device or harness by one calm when the other camis still in the low position. The cams are preferably arranged staggeredapart with uniform spacing, for instance, in the case of two cams theymay preferably be apart from each other.

The number of patterns that can be formed can be further increased byholding the harness once it has been raised, by providing an insertablelock which holds the harness firmly. The raised position need not inthis connection necessarily be a high position, it can, for instancealso be a middle position or intermediate position when several shedsare to be formed. It is possible, in principle, to move the lockcompletely mechanically, but for a high speed of movement it is desiredto use an electromagnet which actuates the lock. If the entire load ofthe thread guide device or harness is associated with the lock and thuswith the electromagnet, the two must be made relatively large, whichinvolves longer response and movement times. In order to prevent thisdelay, the lock is retained in its active position on a stationarybearing membed. The stationary bearing member takes over the load sothat the lock and the electromagnet can be kept small and can beoperated with small current and high speeds.

It is, of course, possible to control the lock both in its inactiveposition and in its active position. The control, however, is simplifiedby controlling the lock exclusively into its active position while thepassage of the lock into its inactive position is made dependent on themovement of the thread guide device or harness.

The control command for providing a given active length of thetransmission device can be effected by the known control devices forweaving machines. For example, the control command can be recorded onpattern cards, punch cards or the like. These control devices can beused in conventional manner to open and close electric circuits. Eithersensing fingers can be used or photoelectric cells can be employed. Thecontrol command which in itself consists of a very short pulse can befurther controlled by an adjustable multivibrator circuit in order toadjust the length of the pulse. Thus, it is possible for instance toconvert the short control command into a lengthy stop pulse.

In the case of machines operating at particularly high speed, one maycause the locking device to be operated at a speed inverselyproportional to the speed of rotation of the weaving machine. For thispurpose, for instance, there can be used a tacho-generator whichconverts the speed into a measurable energy and utilizes the latter togovern the duration of the control. Thus, it is possible to utilize thevoltage of the tacho-generator through a pro-magnetized choke toinfluence a multi-vibrator circuit in such a manner that the magnets ofthe control device have a stop time which is inversely proportional tothe speed of rotation of the weaving machine.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown various embodiments ofthe several features of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a view of a loom seen from the rear side,

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic cross section through the loom taken along line22 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 2a is an enlarged detailed view of the stop plate.

FIG. 3 shows a raised harness of the loom seen in the longitudinaldirection of the harness,

FIG. 4 shows a raised harness of the loom, but seen in the transversedirection of the harness,

FIG. 5 shows a harness in the lowered position seen in the longitudinaldirection of the harness, and

FIG. 6 shows a harness in the lowered position seen from the transverseside of the harness.

It should first be noted that the drawings merely show sutficientmechanism necessary for a clear understanding of the invention. The typeof loom in which the invention can be incorporated could utilize ashuttle or be a shuttleless loom and the filling could be introduced bya filling needle or by compressed air. Furthermore, for the sake ofsimplicity, only two harnesses have been shown, on basis of which thecontrol of the loom will be explained. The number of harnesses can bemultiplied within given limits.

The machine frame has two side standards or columns 10 in whichconventional harness frames 11 are slidably mounted for up and downmovement in suitable guides in manner well known to those skilled in theart. The harness frames 11 are reciprocated by a harness controldesignated generally as 12 by means of cams 20 mounted on cam shaft 13.

Each harness frame 11 has a plurality of heddles 14, through the holesor eyes of which extend warp threads 15.

Referring to FIG. 2, the loom also includes a take-up roller 16 whichtakes up the finished Web formed from the warp threads 15. On the sideof the warp threads there is arranged a disc 17 which is rotatablysupported on a vertical shaft. The disc 17 serves in known manner,together with other generally eccentrically arranged supports to effectmovement of a filling needle (not shown) which carries the fillingthreads. A reed 18 associated with the warp threads operates inconventional manner.

The harness control 12 is shown in detail in FIG. 3 to FIG. 6. Ingeneral, it may be stated that the pusher or lifting rod .19, asillustratively shown, can be adjusted in length to at least twodifferent sizes by the deformation or kinking of linked parts. Thesesizes result in the corresponding harness positions, for instance, a lowposition and a high position. The length of the pushers 19 isadjustable. As will hereinafter be described in detail, the control canbe effected in such a manner that all known types and patterns of weavecan be created. The pushers 19 are moved by cams 20.

Assuming that circular earns 20 are used, they are eccentrically mountedso that a substantially uniform raising and lowering of the harnesses 11is assured. For simple patterns, it is suflicient if each harness 11 ismoved by only a single cam 20 with the interposition of an associatedpusher 19. If, however, a large number of pattern possibilities isdesired, one can proceed in such a manner that two cams 20 act on oneharness 11 with the interposition of one pusher 19 for each cam, theearns 20 being, however, 180 apart. It may also be pointed out that theinvention is not limited exclusively to deformable pushers 19 of thetype shown in FIGS. 36. For the sake of simplicity, this form of pusher19 has been selected in the illustrative embodiment shown. Instead of adeformable region defined by pivoted links, the pusher can have anelastic region, for instance one with springs which bend under load, inwhich connection, however, the bending can be prevented by holding meanssuch as holding plates or the like and the lifting of the harness 11 isthus made possible.

As illustratively shown, each of the pushers 19 has four arms, i.e., alower upright arm 21 and an upper upright arm 22. The two arms 21 and 22are restrained by guides 23 from moving out laterally and can be movedonly in their longitudinal direction. Between the two upright arms 21and 22 there is interposed a deformable or bendable region 24, whichconsists of two links or arms 25 of substantially the same length. Allthe arms 21, 22 and the two arms 25 are connected to each other bypivots 26. This arrangement makes it possible for the arms 25 to moveoutwardly to one side. In order to reduce the frictional forces betweenthe lower upright arm 21 and the cam 20, the arm 21 is provided with aroller 27 at its lower end, which cooperates with a cam 20.

The deformable region 24 has two stops on the two sides lying in theplane of deformation. On the side opposed to the deformable region afixed stop 28 (FIGS. 3 and 5) is provided. This stop is mounted on themachine frame. Its apex or nose end against which arm 25 abuts is sodesigned that the two arms 25 forming the deformable or kinkable region24 cannot assume a completely longitudinally aligned position, but areheld by contact against the stop 28 in a slightly bent position at anangle that is slightly less than 180. This pre bent position of the arms25 makes possible a dependable and rapid bending to desired position.Movable auxiliary means can thus be entirely dispensed with. On theother side of the deformable region 24 opposed to the stop 28, anotherstop, as already mentioned, is provided. It is designated generally as29 and is a movable stop. In the active position, i.e., in the blockedposition, the stop 29 with its associated stop plate 30 lies within thebent path. Accordingly, bending at the deformable region 24 is preventedby holding the arms 25 between the stops 28, 29.

The stop plate 30 is so designed with respect to its length and positionthat the arms 25 when restrained by the stop plate 30 are retained insubstantially longitudinal alignment with arms 21, 22 during the entirestroke of the pusher 19. It can be seen that when the pusher 19 is heldlocked by the stop plate 30, as above described, the left movementcoming from the cam 20 is also transmitted to the upper end of theharness 11. If, on the other hand, the stop plate 30 is brought out ofthe path of movement of the deformable region 24, the two arms 25 willbend. As a result, the lift which is transmitted from the cam 20 to thelower upright arm 21 of the pusher 19 will be taken up by the deformableregion 24 so that the upper upright arm 22 will not move.

In the illustrative embodiment above described, the stop plate 30 ismoved by electroamagnet 31. The plunger (not shown) of magnet 31 has itspath of movement perpendicular to the plane of the deformable region 24.In this manner, the pressure from the elements of deformable region 24do not act directly on the magnet 31. Rather, the magnet 31 servesmerely to move the stop plate 30. It is therefore, immaterial whetherthe magnet 31 acts by reverse polarity in both directions or else onlyin one direction while the movement in the other direction is effectedby mechanical load such as a pre-tensioned spring or a weight. The stopplate 30 is held in the active position against the action of the oncoming pressure of the bendable region 24 by two fixed stops 32.Accordingly, the magnet 31 only requires little force for energizationsince it only moves the stop plate 30.. The stops 32 are arranged insuch manner that they serve as counter-supports for the stop plate 30and take upthe forces of the bending.

From the foregoing it is clear that by reason of the control of plate 30by magnet 31, the harnesses 11 can be alternately raised and lowered.Furthermore, different weave designs may be formed solely by controllingthe magnet 31. This is, however, only a partial utilization of thepossibility of control if each harness 11 must be raised or lowered foreach cam rotation. However, the harness 11 can be maintained in itslowered position as long as desired by merely retaining the magnet 31deenergized. In order to raise the harness 11, the magnet 31 must beenergized. In order, however, to be able in a simple manner to obtainall known possibilities of patterns, it is necessary to be able to holdthe harness 11, also as long as desired, in its raised position. Forthis purpose the harness is retained in its raised position by a controlpawl 33.:As can be seen in FIG. 3 and FIG. 5, an electro-magnet 34 isused to move the pawl 33 into its active and inactive positionsrespectively. In the active position of the pawl 33 the harness 11 isretained in its upper position. In the inactive position, the harness 11is not held and can move unimpeded into its lower position. The pawl 33and the stroke length of the plunger (not shown) of magnet 34 and pawl33 are both kept relatively small in order to obtain short actuatingtimes and motion times. In order however, to be able dependably to holdlarge and heavy harnesses 11, the pawl 33 is arranged to be supported byfixed stop 35 mounted on the frame of the 100m.

It is clear that by reason of the movable pawl 33, the harness 11 can beheld as long as desired in raised position, and by the actuation of themagnets 31 and 34 any pattern may be provided. Thus, the harnesses 11can remain in their low position or be moved to a high position asdesired.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 of the drawings, the pusher 19 is not placeddirectly below the corresponding harness 11, but rather a harness yoke36 is interposed. This is necessary since all the cams 20 are arrangedon a single shaft and the individual harnesses 11 are located one behindthe other in conventional manner. Furthermore, a harness yoke 36 isdesirable since two cams 20 each having a separate pusher 19 can act ona single harness 11.

For purpose of illustration, it is assumed that a harness motion of one'high, three low, is desired. To this end, for the first lifting actionby cam 20, the magnet 31 is actuated. As a result, the deformable region24 is blocked in the manner described and the harness 11 is raised bythe pusher 19 by the interposed harness yoke 36. The magnet 34, whichholds the harness in the raised position, is not actuated. Accordingly,the harness 11 is lowered upon further rotation of the cam. Upon thesecond rotation of the cam 20 the magnet 31 is not actuated. Thedeformable region 24 is accordingly not supported and the arms 25 willbend outwardly so that the upper arm 22 of pusher 19 will not be liftedand accordingly the harness 11 will remain in its low position duringthe entire rotation of the cam.

In the case of a harness motion of three high, one low, with the harness11 in its high position, it will be kept in this position. The retentionof the harness 11 in the high position is ecected by the actuation ofmagnet 34 which moves the pawl 33 into locking position beneath theharness yoke 36. Upon a further second rotation of the cam, the harnessyoke 36 is raised slightly so that the pawl 33 is no longer under load.As a result, the magnet 34 can thus readily withdraw the pawl 33 with aminimum of power since the heavy load of the harness 11 and the harnessyoke 36 has been removed.

The two examples above described can operate with only a single cam perharness and are sufiicient to form repeats of even numbers. For weavingrepeats of uneven numbers, i.e., if an uneven number of picks is to beeffected by the filling needle, it is necessary to use two cams, eachdisplaced away from the other and each acting with the interposition ofa separate pusher 19 on the harness yoke 36. It is obvious that each ofthe pushers 19 has its own control means. The harness 11 can also beheld in its raised position.

For controlling the two magnets 31 and 34, various possibilities exist.In this connection, one may proceed from the known possibilities,namely, the use of dobby pattern cards, or cardboad cards or punchedpaper cards. Mechanical feeler devices are provided which effect theenergization and de-energization of the magnets to mechanically block orrelease the pushers 19 or hold the harness 11 in raised position. Whenusing a punched card, photo diodes or transistors, excited for instanceby a light pulse, may be used to control the magnets. It is alsopossible in the case of the last mentioned control to use dobby patterncards or cardboard cards. In the following, a few of these possibilitieswill be discussed in further detail.

The dobby pattern cards have projections which can be used on the onehand to actuate the magnet 31 directly by way of an electrical contactand, therefore, to bring the harness 11 into raised position and, on theother hand, to actuate the holding magnet 34 and, therefore, to hold thharness 11 in its raised position. It is, therefore, necessary toprovide two rows of dobby cards when a cam 20 and a pusher 19 areassociated with the harness 11.

As many changes could be made in the above equipment, and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall b interpreted as illustrated and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A control device for a machine having movable thread guide means,comprising a cam, means to rotate said cam, a transmission elementinterposed between the cam and the thread guide means and operativelycon nected thereto, to raise and lower said thread guide means, saidtransmission element comprising a pusher rod having a deformable portionbetween its ends, said deformable portion being movable laterallyoutwardly in one direction to change the effective length of said rod,by the force produced between the cam and the thread guide means and astop associated with said deformable portion and movable into alignmenttherewith to restrain lateral movement thereof.

2. A control device according to claim 1 in which said pusher rod hastwo end portions and two intermediate portions each pivoted to eachother and to an associated end portion, said intermediate portionsdefining the deformable portion.

3. A control device according to claim 1 in which an electromagnet isoperatively connected to said stop to move the latter.

4. A control device according to claim 1 in which a fixed stop isaligned with said deformable portion to limit its movement in theopposite direction.

5. A control device according to claim 1 in which a movable lockingmember is associated with said thread guide means to retain the latterin raised position.

6. A control device according to claim 5 in which an electromagnet isoperatively connected to said locking means to move the latter.

7. A control device according to claim 5 in which a fixed stop isprovided to support said locking means when it is in position to retainthe thread guide means in raised position.

8. A control device according to claim 1 in which an electromagnet isoperatively connected to said stop to control its position to determinethe effective length of the transmission rod, a pattern control element,and means controlled by the pattern control element selectively toenergize said electromagnet.

9. A control device according to claim 8 in which the pattern controlelement has control indicia thereon, and mechanical sensing means areprovided to scan said control indicia.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,904,006 4/1933 Means 139552,354,843 8/1944 Tandler et a1 139319 2,693,828 ll/I954 Nims 139572,980,145 4/1961 Herard et al. 13980 3,080,894 3/1963 Morrison 139-803,265,096 8/1966 Zangerle et al. 139-55 X FOREIGN PATENTS 925,279 3/1955Germany.

825,221 12/1959 Great Britain.

323,522 12/1934 Italy.

246,963 11/1947 Switzerland.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner.

